Saturday, July 25, 2009

Podcasting: Numero 21

Podcast, I had heard this term used many times before but I never fully understood what the term meant until the 23 Things. Podcasting can be a very useful tool in distributing information in a timely manner. For example, 23 Things, every week I could get an update of the next weeks assignment via audio and the podcatcher would add that to my list automatically. At first this seems too much because I am not used to things being sent or given to me automatically without having to do some research. The trick is finding a "podcast" which interests you and will keep you interested.

A few podcasts which I found interesting were about libraries. I saw a few videos about instructionals and I could see a timeline of older videos which allowed me to gauge the type of information disseminated. Though the concept is interesting I still did not find any podcast which I truly wanted to be a part of. Specifically, the concept of podcast is not yet fully grasped. Until I can fully understand I will continue to learn and ask questions.

This is the dilemma I am currently facing...not having podcast fully grasped.

Tuesday, July 21, 2009

Thing 20: Youtube

Thing 20 required us to watch videos on a few and describe what we saw. I used the following questions to guide me about what to write: what were the videos trying to accomplish, how effective were they, and can I think of other uses for videos to help promote libraries or serve the public?

Three libraries which I chose were either in Texas or in Illinois. The first library I chose was in Plano and it talked about the technical services division. The video described what jobs are and the functions of the technical services division. It described the different personnell and jobs, technicians, librarians, etc. I found it overall effective in describing the section of technical services. Out of all three I found this one to be most conservative in the way the instruction was shown on video.

The next video I chose was located near a library where I grew up, Arlington Heights Memorial library, also the technical services department. I was given a few good facts, such as the library processes 300 items a day and there are AMT's which stand for Acquisiiton Material Team. This video was funny and compared the functions of working in a library department to an emergency room. This video was funny and is most effective in teaching people who know nothing about libraries how a library works.

The last video was actually from a college I used to attend over 14 years ago. The college is William Rainey Harper College from Illinois. This video described in general what a library does more specific an Academic library. The video was very funny and made a lasting impression but more so because of the humor and not so because of the information given.

I think videos would be a good way to introduce the public to their library and show patrons some of our weekly and monthly programs.

Thursday, July 16, 2009

19 out of 23 things thing

Google docs, wow if this really does work then people can get rid of their Microsoft Office and not have to worry...not really but it works well. I was talking to a guy at Best Buy the other day about getting an Apple computer. Now, I have never had one before but I wanted to see what it was about. The biggest complaint I had was that the software needed to interpret what I was getting from a computer in Windows using Microsoft Word to a computer using Mac software was a little expensive. From what the guy was telling me, the software is not full proof.

The good thing about Google docs, is that it is cheap and inexpensive, $0. The software is right on the net, so I should not have a problem unless Firefox and IE 8 are also incompatible. It is really not a bad idea and nowhere near the potential it can be at.

Wiki, wiki, wiki on to 18

I like Wikipedia because of the massive amounts of information they have,(though if one tried to use this for college as a reference, I am positive the assignment would be turned back.) Wikipedia is good for giving someone a starting point and helping one find resources for searching.

The Wetpaint site is a useful way for people to network. Just like MySpace and Facebook, a person usually gives some basic information and others can comment or not.

Thursday, July 2, 2009

Libworm, Diecisiete or 17

Seriously, these Things which we have been doing are truly neat. Libworm is no exception as it is a search engine for professionals or people who want information with a little merit. Libworm reminds me of something students would use at a college.

My experience so far involved me putting in a keyword...you guessed it, iPhone and the site came back with a few topics but the one most relevant was the Top 25 Medical Applications. So the system will probably not bring up exactly what one wants. This is why I compare this to something found at a school because the site I found was "credible," though it was not really what I wanted, still neat to read.

LibraryThing is Thing #16

LibraryThing has some very neat features and it is also a fine addition to my technology addiction. <-----that rhymed... Anyhow, I found a few books which I need and a group. Since I am in my Masters program, I thought it was neat to find there is one such group which lets one post questions about anything having to do with graduate school. I have plenty of questions from, is the degree worth it and the right school? I find the process to be a little frustrating so I joined the group in hopes of learning more.

I was also able to find a few books and the neat thing is I can check up the author and find out other works as well. One of the authors I chose wrote about the iPhone. While I was looking at the authors other works, I found more material which I enjoy such as computer stuff. So that was cool. I was also able to put this on my phone so I can enjoy LibraryThing anywhere.